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Success Stories

Because of 7billionideas, an individual or group, has acted on an idea or been inspired to do something...

George inspired

"I decided to use crowd funding after it was suggested to me by a friend, I wasn't sure about it at first and suddenly a spark in my brain ignited and I remember the 7bilionideas workshop day hosted at the Hayesbrook School I was a part of last year and how you had use crowd funding to set up your now successful business. I started my crowdfunding page http://www.gofundme.com/e66p6c on gofundme as it was recommended to me and allows for fundraising for an individuals purposes. I created the page at around 00:00 Monday 8th September in order to help me keep track of just how many donations I'd had in the time frame that has passed. As of 12:30 12/09 I've raised £690 of my £1,500 target through promoting my page through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as by getting my friends to share it as much as possible to try and make my campaign almost go viral.I want to say thank you to 7billionideas for inspiring me to act on my idea."

Can't Choose

User Keon Davies recently wrote to 7billionideas to inform he had taken his posted idea and was making into a realtiy. He said A while a go I posted an idea about a website called Can't Choose and after thinking through the idea for a while I decided to go through with it. My site is called cantchoose.co.uk and is all about helping people making the right decisions in life. Without the support from everyone on 7billion ideas I probably wouldn't have gone through with it but I'm very glad I did. Thank you for getting back in contact with us Keon, we wish you all the best with your new website.

Surbiton 7billCLUB

We were delighted to hear recently that Surbiton High School have taken the initiative and set up their very own 7billCLUB. Every Friday lunchtime the community of students (approximately 30) come together, read the latest posted ideas, generate new ideas and work on bi-weekly presentations to improve their skills. It makes Surbiton the first school in the UK to run a 7billCLUB and we are delighted to see the energy each time we turn up. If you’re interested in your school having 7billEDUCATION visit, please email enquiry@7billionideas.com

Digital Entreprenuer Awards 2013

For the second year running, 7billionideas via Selesti Ltd, our fantastic developers, were nominated for a flagship award at the Digital Entrepreneur Awards in Manchester. David and Jenny from the 7billionideas team went to represent our platform for a fantastic event at the Hilton Hotel. Unfortunately, 7billionideas just missed out this year yet again to well known businesses, but we are delighted to announce that Selesti won the ‘Outstanding Agency 2013’ award. Incredible recognition for the Norwich based agency and a demonstration of how far they have come in a short number of years.

Silkfred raise £120,000

7billionideas were delighted to hear that 7billUSER Emma Watkinson was successful in raising £120,000 on Crowdcube in October 2013. An active user and follower of the business, Emma approached 7billionideas to ask for guidance on crowd funding and raising investment after our successful story in April 2012. Her online fashion business didn’t take long to catch the investor’s eye and soon the pitch began to pick up momentum. Emma and her team campaigned hard to find and drive support for the remaining funding and managed to successfully get over the line. Since their successful investment www.silkfred.com have seen a surge on Twitter and some fantastic media attention, recently appearing on Day Break. We wish them all the best with the next steps www.silkfred.com

25,000 Twitter Followers

Quite simply, our 7billionideas Twitter account has gone through the roof in the last 8 weeks. We are now proud to announce that we have a superb following of 25,000 people, who are not only interacting with us daily on Twitter, but also joining our growing community of application and website users. A big thank you to Tom and Alt-3SM for your continued outstanding work, you have transformed our presence on the platform and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with a company founded by a 7billionideas user

Flexperto business is up!

7billionideas user Felix Anthonj got in touch with us at the start of the year to help with his dissertation at University around crowd funding off the back of our success on Crowdcube. Based in Germany, we were delighted to speak with Felix who recently got back in contact to inform us 7billionideas had inspired him to start his first major venture www.flexperto.com, a platform meant for everybody, from private people to multi national corporations that seek to get online advice or share experience and knowledge with others around the world. Flexperto is beginning to pick up great momentum and we wish Felix all the best as he drives his business full time in the coming months.

HappiJar goes live!

Early this year Glen Cooper, 7billionideas user, posted his idea ‘HappiJar’, a phone app that allows a user to store happy moments, whether it be a text, picture or voice in one place. They can then share them, keep them for life and reflect on them at any time. After posting the idea and receiving a number of public likes, Glen built up the courage to start his business and create an app. Glen attempted to fund the idea through Kickstart, which led him to his first investor who has now become a partner in the idea. You can check out HappiJar today by visiting www.happijar.com . We wish Glen all the success with this idea and all of his future ventures.

Andriod Application

7billionideas is delighted to announce that our Android application is now being built! This week we started the work which is estimated to conclude within 3-4 months. Our users on all platforms will see improved features including being easily able to view your statistics and also being able to upload private ideas to develop. It is a very exciting period for 7billionideas as we aim to complete a major business objective of 2013, by completing the foundations of our platform. We shall announce a more specific date when 7billionideas will be live in the Andriod store as we move nearer to a conclusion.

Twitter 10,000

7billionideas twitter followers have gone through the roof in the last 2 weeks!!! We were delighted to see our following pass 10,000 this week as more and more people follow our account to see great pictures being posted and ideas from 7billionideas itself. A big thank you must go to Tom, Emma and Edward for their great work on the account. If you haven’t already please follow 7billionideas on Twitter and tweet us any questions that you might have.

Intagram

Following our success on Twitter and Facebook 7billionideas is now live on Instagram. Edward Matts, a 7billionideas intern has taken the lead on sourcing fantastic photographs to share to our audience on Instagram. He now regularly posts 5-7 pictures a day which are receiving great comments and interactions. So if you’re on Instagram too, be sure to check out our account and say hello to Edward.

Silkfred.Com

7billionideas user Emma Watkinson, has followed 7billionideas and launched her crowd funding campaign on www.crowdcube.com this week! For those who don’t know, crowdfunding is a fantastic new concept where anyone can invest in your business. Emma’s business, SilkFred is a platform that provides online & offline routes to market for independent fashion brands. They are an exciting company and are looking to raise £120,000 for 20% equity in the business. You can visit Crowdcube today, check out their pitch http://www.crowdcube.com/investment/silkfred-ltd-12786 and make your decision to invest or not! We wish Silkfred all the best with their campaign, as they are symbol of young entrepreneurs, entering a tough industry but finding something unique to bring to the table. Good luck.

TWGSB Year 9s

7billionideas was delighted to return to Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Kent last week and kick off a 2 week idea competition. The year 9 students heard the inspirational 7billionideas story and each had 2 weeks to post 3 ideas. Next week they will have to pick 1 idea to present in 30 seconds. The rest of the year will vote if they like or dislike the idea and prizes will be given out to the most liked idea, the wooden spoon idea and David’s personal favourite! If you would like 7billionideas to visit your school, email us at enquiry@7billionideas.com

#7billHOODIES

Our 7billionideas models album is growing week to week with new 7billionideas Hoodie owners wearing their hoodies all across the world. James in Chile, Melissa in Australia and Adrian in Singapore can now be seen at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.534422733269684.1073741825.219638524748108&type=3. Not only do our hoodies feel as cosy as anything out there, they are a symbol that you are part of our growing community of idea contributors and part of something special. If you would like to get your hands on a 7billionideas Hoodie (for £25 + P&P), email enquiry@7billionideas.com and we shall pop one in the post to you straight away.

The Year of Ideas : 2013

7billionideas is delighted to announce that on the 22nd November 2013 we shall be having our first major user event ‘The Year of Ideas : 2013’. It will be a fantastic celebration of the ideas with awards given out for a number of categories, speeches from innovative individuals and of course some major announcements for 2014. It will be a great opportunity to bring our users, our schools, our sponsors, our suppliers and our team together to celebrate this fantastic year of ideas. Keep an eye out for more information and where to access tickets.

My Homes Past

New 7billionideas Karl Norn reached out to us to discuss his idea www.myhomespast.co.uk . Karl has set up the website to help users set up to create a pictorial history of the Homes we live in and have lived in over our lifetime. The aim is to bring together previous owners of our Homes with the view to create your properties very own Home Time Line, with pictures and memories from times you spent at that address, showing previous owners what it used to look like or how it looks now, also what if you always wondered how the garden used to look before the extension was built, how did the bathroom look before it was knocked into one, what could it look like if we changed it back to how it used to look......all these questions could be answered by sharing the details you have, of your old properties with people who have lived in your homes before and after you did. It is an exciting interesting idea and 7billionideas spoke to Karl and gave him some guidance how what to do next. We look forward to seeing how his idea develops. Please keep in contact Karl.

25,000 Facebook Fans...

The momentum keeps building as now 26,897 people are fans of 7billionideas on Facebook. Every week we share 25-30 photos, along with ideas posted by our users and interest links to other websites. Our followers have embraced our approached, continue to share the page and of course are beginning to join in sharing ideas on 7billionideas. Welcome too 7billionideas all our new users, please do make sure you enter where you from in the world, as we continue to see our footprint expand. REMEMBER, to tell you friends and get them involved.

Team expands

We are delighted to announce that 7billionideas has recently had 2 superb additions to the team. After promoting on our Facebook page that 7billionideas was looking for some additional hands to join our intern program, 7billionideas user Edward Matts approached us immediately showing a determined willingness to get involved and help our platform. He is supporting our CEO in a number of research projects at the moment and he is a great new addition to the team. We also welcome Laura Harkin, who joins siblings, Christopher and David on the leadership team at 7billionideas. Laura has come on board to help play a role as an active advisor to 7billionideas growing Schools packages. She brings her teaching expertise to the table and has recently been involved in helping bring improved structure to the 7billionideas program. Welcome Edward and Laura, we are delighted to have you on board.

Andriod coming...

Keep a close eye out for an announcement soon on when our Android application will be launched. You have all been extremely patient with 7billionideas since we launched our iPhone app in September 2012. Since then we have watched closely how people have continued to interact on both the website and the app. We have been waiting so uultimately not only can we make improvements to both those platforms, but also bring out a super Andriod app. We can’t wait to launch it, you can expect an announcement by the middle of June :-)

Full Package Launching...

In 2012/2013 7billionideas has spoken to 2,500+ students from 15+ schools, with one goal  to inspire them to Think Bigger and Dream Bigger about their ideas and their careers. The program has gone from strength to strength with every single school in a recent survey saying they would absolutely invite 7billionideas back. Since Laura joined our leadership team, 7billionideas has designed two packages under our Think Big Dream Big banner. These packages are broken into 2 sets of 7 lessons covering a wide range of topics from Sparking Innovation, Building a Dynamic Team to the Importance of Social Media. 7billionideas is delighted that they are now in a number of discussions with numerous schools about how we can build this into their plans for 2013/2014. If youre a school and like 7billionideas  please email us at enquiry@7billionideas.com  We would be delighted to speak to you!

Thomas Cook Ideas

After an Easter holiday vacation, 7billionideas Co-Founder Jenny Pool had countless ideas to upload around airports, holidays and in particular about the airline Thomas Cook. In total Jenny had 7 great ideas about small ways Thomas Cook could improve its airline service; one being there should be an in-flight itinerary so you know when food is coming and when you should sleep. Jenny decided to take her ideas to the top! She researched to find out that Harriet Green was the CEO of Thomas Cook and decided to tweet her and was surprised to get a very quick response back. She is now in the process of arranging an 8 minute meeting with this extremely busy lady to tell her 7 ideas! Now imagine if she listens to one of them and makes it come true #anythingispossible! Keep up the good work Jenny! It sometimes only takes a tweet…

World Changing Idea Day

On the 19th and 26th April, 7billionideas worked with Lisa Harms (Head of Opening Minds) at Farnham Heath End School to complete 2 fantastic 7billionideas days. 200 Year 7s over the 2 days took part in 7billionideas ‘World Changing Idea Day’ where the purpose was to generate 1 collective idea that could change the world. Over the 5 lessons, every student came up with ideas, presented them to their peers, selected an idea to begin developing and then presented their idea in the final lesson. Lesson 3 saw all the students come back together to share their idea in 20 seconds in the assembly room and we managed to hear 100 ideas in an hour! It was incredible and the idea that won was based around a crazy new lighter which would help people cut back their smoking by only being allowed to be clicked a certain amount of times a day. We can’t wait to get back engaged with the School! Please do check out their ideas - http://www.7billionideas.com/corporate/1844/farnham-heath-end-school

15,000 Facebook Likes

7bllionideas had a superb milestone this week and stormed over 15,000 likes on Facebook! It is an incredible achievement by Tom and Emma who run our social media accounts at 7billionideas. We now have support and followers from over 30 different countries all coming together to help build our extended ideas community. If any of our users come across fantastic idea photos which we could use on our page, please do not hesitate to share them with us on Facebook. We can’t wait to see this community become more engaged on 7billionideas.com.

Everything Rocks

7billionideas was delighted to meet the founders behind www.everythingrock.co.uk at a recent #thinkbigdreambig lesson at Hermitage Academy, Newcastle. EverythingRock is an online publication that brings users the hottest reviews, interviews and live photography from all over the UK to do with anything about Rock. An impressive website with a great facebook and twitter page, EverythingRock stayed on after the lesson to ask 7billionideas their opinion on how to run their social media strategy. It was a super conversation and the two companies are now in regular conversation via Facebook sharing tips on how to improve each others pages. ER are looking at ways to see how they can grow their business and potentially look for investment through Crowdfunding and of course 7billionideas will be delighted to play a mentoring role if this is the avenue they decide to pursue. Good luck and keep in touch!

Train Smart Starts!

7billionideas user Chris Watson approached us over 6 months ago about the possibility of investigating an idea he had for a while. After a really interesting conversation, Chris went away to investigate not only this ideas but a number of other ideas he had been thinking about for quite some time. We were delighted to hear recently from Chris that he has officially launched ‘Train Smart’ https://www.facebook.com/TrainSmartGlasgow . At the heart of the business is personal training, but Chris is determined to take a different angle on his venture, focusing hugely on educating clients on the correct principle of exercise and nutrition. Train Smart is gaining good traction on their Social Media platforms and is taking off in Glasgow. If you’re a user from the region, do make sure you like their Facebook page and get in touch with Chris to become his next client! All the best Train Smart.

Alt-3SM Launch

Alt-3SM are officially up and running! Before we announced that Alt-3SM, a company focused on helping engage with businesses to plan and run their social media strategy had formed, but now we can announce proudly that they are doing this full time. 7billionideas was delighted to engage and support 7billionideas user Tom Parsons forming his company and it is great to see it progress to a point where Tom can now go full time. Alt-3SM understands the importance of social media to any business, but in particular businesses with aggressive growth demands. If a strategy can be devised that captures a following and ultimately creates an online brand quickly, it can be invaluable to a business. Alt-3SM now has an impressive client list (including 7billionideas!) and we wish them all the best in the coming years. If anyone would like an introduction, please do contact 7billionideas and we would be delighted to make the introduction.Make sure you visit their website at www.alt-3sm.co.uk

First IOM Winner

Huge congratulations to Courtney Foster for being our first IOM (Idea of the Month Winner) for her ‘Sensor Lights’ Idea - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/3201 - Instead of having to sprint back to your room once you have turned off all the lights, Courtney suggests that there should be a timer on every single light, giving people enough time to get upstairs and into bed before all the lights are switched off. It would be particularly useful for people who are scared of the dark! Courtney is the first winner of a super brushed stainless steel sensor bin (http://www.simplehuman.com/trash/sensor-cans) sponsored by simplehuman. These bins are designed to help reduce the spread of germs within the kitchen as you don't have to touch the bin during food prep – A great idea! For your chance to win in April, all you have to do is post 1 idea – Start today!

Live for 365 Days

A huge thank you to Chris Martin, a 7billionideas user, who came forward and offered for no cost to design an infographic for 7billionideas to celebrate our first birthday. Chris is a talented designer based out in Melbourne, Australia and also a huge 7bill fan. The infographic (which can be seen on our Facebook page) celebrated the fact that in our first year 7billionideas captured 3,265 ideas and had 43,652 interactions on the platform. So we have two thank yous to say 1) to Chris for doing a great piece of volunteer work 2) all our users for making the first 365 days absolutely fantastic. Roll on our 2nd birthday next year and keep every single idea coming :-)

#thinkBIGdreamBIG

Our aim – Inspire students to think bigger and dream bigger about their careers and ideas. 7billionideas Schools Program is going from strength to strength and we have now engaged with 14 schools and over 2,500 students. New Schools now include Weald Of Kent, Combe Bank School in Kent and Bede Academy and Hermitage Academy in Newcastle. Our lessons are high impact, plenty of fun and have a strong underlying theme which has had a positive impact with the students and teachers we have engaged with. 100% of the schools have said they would invite us back which is a statistic we endeavour to keep up. If you would like to hear more about our Schools program, please send an email to enquiry@7billionideas.com

Costa Listen

Frustrated at the lack of fresh muffins in Costa, Charles Hornsby initially posted an idea that they should have a ‘best by’ date label on the underneath of all wrappers to let us know if the item is still fresh. After receiving double digit likes, Charles got in contact with Costa to ask if this was possible. Costa instructed Charles that ‘At the end of each day, outlets are instructed to put all fresh products away. As date stamping is not a requirement at the moment, it isn’t in place but is something they are thinking about implementing.’ Top work Charles in getting in contact with Costa, takes courage to act on an idea and you made the big step.

User starts business

With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, Adam Ross has watched the rise of the concept of crowdfunding over the last number of years with great interest. For those who don’t know what crowdfunding is, the concept is about connecting entrepreneurs with a crowd of investors and giving them the platform to invest in their company. 7billionideas went through this with Crowdcube in April 2013 and broke their Crowdcube record in 4 days - http://www.crowdcube.com/pg/7billionideas-55 - A 7billionideas user, Adam Ross has felt there is a need to provide more information to early start ups and investors on the ins and outs of crowdfunding. After meeting with the 7billionideas team, Adam has really accelerated his idea and has recently gone live on www.crowdsourcingcapital.co.uk We wish him all the best with his start up business,

Waitrose respond

7billionideas user Jenny Pool posted an idea about the size of food packaging, specifically for coleslaw. Her idea was based around looking at all packaging and to see if it was possible to make coleslaw and potato salad products either smaller like Heinz portions, mainly for people who live alone or are eating by themselves. After tweeting major supermarkets, she wrote an email to Waitrose explaining 4 major benefits (1) less food wastage (2) increased sales as people wouldn’t be put off by bigger portions (3) A positive health impact (4) it’s an easy thing to do! Waitrose were the only major supermarket to respond saying ‘The problem with smaller pots is the cost of the packaging vs. the volume in the tubs and this would end up giving them coleslaw at a very expensive price per 100 gram. The industry norm is around 250/300 grams.’ Thank you Ian Ellmes from Waitrose Customer Service for your response. They’re going to keep the idea on record and keep us up to date with any new updates around improving packaging. Well done Jenny for not letting your idea just be an idea.

Idea of the Month

We are delighted to announce that www.simplehuman.com will be our #ideaofthemonth sponsor for the next 12 months. Each month, the winner will receive one of these super brushed stainless steel sensor bins (http://www.simplehuman.com/trash/sensor-cans) designed to help reduce the spread of germs within the kitchen as you don't have to touch the bin during food prep. Like 7billionideas, simplehuman started from just one good idea - the butterfly step can (http://www.simplehuman.com/30-litre-butterfly-step-can-fingerprint-proof-brushed-stainless-steel) - and is now a global success, offering over 100 'tools for efficient living'. #ideaofthemonth will be chosen on the last day of every month by a 7billionideas guest judge. All you have to do to be in for a chance, is post an idea! So get started today. Welcome aboard simplehuman!

MP responds

Posting an idea is one thing; acting on it is something completely different. After receiving 30+ likes on his ‘Anti-Mugging Pin Number Idea’ - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2553 - Matt decided to write to his local MP Jim Fitzpatrick to tell him about his idea and see if he could help progress it. After email dialogue, Jim took up the batten of trying to get to the bottom of why this idea is not in place. After writing to the Treasury, he has written to Richard North, Chairman of the Payments Council and is now awaiting a much anticipated response. Keep us posted Matt, great to see a letter back to you from your MP. Lets make ideas real!

7bill Merchandise

This week we have launched our first set of limited edition 7billionideas hoodies, modelled by one of our first #7billmodels Emma. The blue and white hoodies and our new T-Shirts have two inspirational quotes on the back. ‘My ideas usually come not at my desk writing, but in the midst of living’ (Anais Nin) and ‘Human history is in essence a history of ideas’ (HG Wells). Soon we shall be selling them online, but if you would like a 7billionideas Hoodie or T-Shirt get in contact with us by emailing enquiry@7billionideas.com or dropping us a comment on Facebook.

5000 Facebook Likes...

Recently we celebrated storming passed 2,500 likes on Facebook, this week we raced passed 5,000 likes as our Facebook page continues to attract more and more followers. Each day we post interactive and interesting pictures and ideas which have lead to a huge amount of shares and likes, consequently meaning more people want to follow the progress of 7billionideas. Please like our Facebook page if you haven’t already and help us march towards 10,000 likes.

Barton Ideas Jam

Barton Peveril College in Southampton is full of gifted and talented students. This was recognised by teacher Carys Fuller, who a number of years ago created a schools initiative which would provide additional lessons and lectures about a wide range of topics to serve the budding entrepreneurs and politicians at the school and would invite outside speakers to engage. 7billionideas jumped at the opportunity to be involved in February 2013 and launched our very own ideas jam with the students. The lesson was done in 2 parts – firstly the introduction of the concept of ideas, how they start, where they come from and what it takes to make it real. The second part being a fun filled ideas jam, where the students presented 30 ideas in 30 minutes with the audience voting (in a ready steady cook fashion) if they liked or disliked the idea. A “7billionideas Hoodie” was presented to the student with the best idea and a funny wooden spoon presented to the student with the most unpopular idea. We were delighted to be involved in this idea jam and we wish all the sixth form students of Barton all the best.

Pitch For It Success

Last year we wrote a success story about Laura Thomas who decided to leave her corporate career to start her own venture – Happy Sugar Habit. Thousands of people are addicted to sugar and Laura has identified that these people need help. She left her corporate career to not only start driving traffic to her blogs, but to also create an education package to help drive addicts away from their sugar problems and things are going great for her. She recently became the first success on a new interesting platform called ‘Pitch for it’. Based on the concept of crowdfunding, budding entrepreneurs can use the platform to pitch for a mentor or pitch for investment. Laura pitched for a mentor but ended up having a digital agency approach her and offer her £10,000 investment. The money will be used to help launch a new website and launch her initial product range. It is a staggering achievement considering she didn’t plan to pitch at the event and it does show that anything is possible if you take the opportunity. Well done on the £10,000 Laura, please do keep us posted on your story.

MP supports #7billapp

Arguably there are 7 billion politicians in the world, but only a few actually decide to make it a profession. So far we have had 200+ political ideas posted. These have covered ideas of how to get out of the recession; from ideas on how to improve education, to ideas about reducing crime. In an effort to begin to get some of these ideas heard, 7billionideas decided to reach out to local MP Zac Goldsworth. He was intrigued and supportive of our platform and even offered to introduce 7billionideas into some local schools to drive our Think Big Dream Big program. He particularly liked Matthew Hall-Turners Anti-Mugging Pin Number Idea. His advice was simple, if you want to get your idea heard and you think the government can help  get in contact with your local MP. It is their job to represent you in government and they would love to hear about genuine political ideas which could make a difference. Thank you for your advice Zac and we cant wait to speak to your local schools.

Year 9 Options

Following on from a great session with the year 9s at Bishops Challoner School in Bromley, 7billionideas went back in this week to discuss career management with the Year 9s as they embark on making their option decisions. An excitable set of students begun to realise how important this first key academic decision was to their career and they heard from the 7billionideas team their advice on picking their GCSEs subjects – DO WHAT YOU ENJOY. We believe too many people are not content with their professions as they too often do not follow the paths they want to. The Year 9s asked interesting questions such as – What do companies look for? Will I be penalised for studying PE? How do you manage your work/life balance? Head of Year 9 Mr.Raveney said ‘it was brilliant for the students to hear from someone external about their perspective rather than their teachers’. We wish all the students of Bishops all the best in picking their subjects and remember #anythingispossible.

7bill Facebook Likes

This week we passed another major milestone on our developing facebook page, by gaining over 2500+ likes. Thank you to all our followers and to our social media team – Tom and Emma. Our policy is to continue posting interesting and interactive content whilst encouraging idea generation and our followers have wholly embraced it. Your likes, comments and shares are inspiring action and new members to 7billionideas, so please keep it up. If you haven’t already, please do give us a like on www.facebook.com/7billionideas :-)

Users help each other

It was great to see the collaboration this week between two 7billionideas users Stephanie and Jade - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2687 - After Jade posted an idea about sharing photos with Pinterest, Stephanie was quick to point out this was possible and discussed this with Jade until she managed to help her work out how to do it. This is a perfect example of idea guidance. Remember – If you see an idea and know it has been done; do take the opportunity to point that user in the right direction. By commenting, you could actually change or help an individual with some idea guidance, by pointing out that something is possible or that it already exists #keepitupusers J We love it when users help each other out!

Anti Mugging Pin Idea 33 Likes and counting...

Recent #ideaoftheweek winner stated in his idea – ‘If I get 25 likes, I’ll do something about this’– and he is doing just that. His ‘Anti Mugging Pin Number’ idea - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2553 - raced into 7billionideas all time top 10 list as it raced to 25 likes and beyond. The idea is based around the concept of reducing criminal theft at cash machines by introducing a second pin number which automatically contacts the police if you are being attacked. Matthew, inspired by 7billionideas, drafted an extremely well thought out note, highlighting the multiple reasons why this might be beneficially to the banking industry to investigate from a security, PR and finance perspective. He has so far contacted 5 major banks – HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander and Barclays and is now eagerly awaiting a response. If you haven’t already liked his idea, do please go and check it out and add with a like (or a dislike) and a comment to show your support. You never know – they might actually listen and this idea might happen. Superb work Matthew – keep us posted. So far only HSBC bank have got back to Matthew with a rather weak answer, repeating their current Pin Security methods. Matthew has now written to Visa, Mastercard and to his local MP. Keep us posted.

Anti Mugging Pin Idea

Recent #ideaoftheweek winner stated in his idea – ‘If I get 25 likes, I’ll do something about this’– and he is doing just that. His ‘Anti Mugging Pin Number’ idea - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2553 - raced into 7billionideas all time top 10 list as it raced to 25 likes and beyond. The idea is based around the concept of reducing criminal theft at cash machines by introducing a second pin number which automatically contacts the police if you are being attacked. Matthew, inspired by 7billionideas, drafted an extremely well thought out note, highlighting the multiple reasons why this might be beneficially to the banking industry to investigate from a security, PR and finance perspective. He has so far contacted 5 major banks – HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander and Barclays and is now eagerly awaiting a response. If you haven’t already liked his idea, do please go and check it out and add with a like (or a dislike) and a comment to show your support. You never know – they might actually listen and this idea might happen. Superb work Matthew – keep us posted.

Recent #ideaoftheweek winner stated in his idea – ‘If I get 25 likes, I’ll do something about this’– and he is doing just that. His ‘Anti Mugging Pin Number’ idea - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2553 - raced into 7billionideas all time top 10 list as it raced to 25 likes and beyond. The idea is based around the concept of reducing criminal theft at cash machines by introducing a second pin number which automatically contacts the police if you are being attacked. Matthew, inspired by 7billionideas, drafted an extremely well thought out note, highlighting the multiple reasons why this might be beneficially to the banking industry to investigate from a security, PR and finance perspective. He has so far contacted 5 major banks – HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander and Barclays and is now eagerly awaiting a response. If you haven’t already liked his idea, do please go and check it out and add with a like (or a dislike) and a comment to show your support. You never know – they might actually listen and this idea might happen. Superb work Matthew – keep us posted. So far only HSBC bank have got back to Matthew with a rather weak answer, repeating their current Pin Security methods. Matthew has now written to Visa, Mastercard and to his local MP. Keep us posted.

Bishops Challoner School

44 Year 10’s struggled in to School despite all the snow in the UK to take part in one of the latest 7billionideas THINK Big DREAM Big lessons and their enthusiasm was superb. The theme of the lesson was MOTIVATION – What motivation is? What motivated the pupils? What motivates 7billionideas? The Bishop students started to realise that motivation can take many different forms and it isn’t all about money and fame. The middle part of the lesson evolved to be a discussion on the students dream jobs. The Year 10’s shouted out that they wanted to be professional sports stars, pilots, teachers, doctors, music producers, amongst many more great jobs. It was fantastic to see their growing ambition. The last part of the class really drummed home that #anythingispossible if they start thinking bigger and dreaming bigger about their careers. Student Tom O’Gorman posted this idea showing how he was inspired by the lesson - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2567 - We wish all the students all the best with their careers and can’t wait to see your ideas flow.

Compost Bin Club...

After reading Scott Snowdens success story and how he decided to act on his idea and decide to do his bit in reducing the growing food wastage problem in the UK and abroad, 7billionideas Headquarters has embraced its very own compost bin. With 7.2 million tonnes of food being wasted in the UK annually, one idea as to how you could help improve the problem is joining in on our Compost Bin Club. Compost is created by adding 4 key ingredients  Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen and Water. Your food wastage is a perfect ingredient for that first element  Carbon. Compost bins are available at a reasonable cost and you will no doubt be able to fill it in no time at all. After time and nature has played its role, in no time at all youll be turning that food wastage into real compost to re-use in your garden... We were inspired by Scott, why dont you join our Compost Bin Club and send us a photo of your proud new purchase :-)

Food & Drink Waste

Following the Christmas period, there has been a huge amount of press about the quantity of wasted food and drink in the UK. The waste is estimated to be around 7.2 million tonnes in the UK alone. Some of the reasons are (1) food goes out of date too quickly (2) people are reluctant to buy out of shape products (3) people are just simply too greedy. 7billionideas posted a discussion on this topic on its facebook page and it began to receive a number of comments. Scott Snowden was one to chip in on this debate. He posted some great links to other articles, but he also began to think about what he could do to change this staggering statistic. After much thinking, he decided to install a compost bin in the garden to deposit his food waste into and help turn it into something useful. He said Inspired by this, I have just installed a compost bin in the garden today too! We know Scott hopes that this begins to make a difference in his house hold and that his action inspires others to do the same. Have you been inspired by 7billionideas? Get in contact with us to become our next success story.

Idea of the Week

We are pleased to announce that our 'Idea of the Week' sponsor BTC Group (www.btcgroup.co.uk) have produced 52 limited addition 'Stand and Split' 7billionideas gadgets for 2013. They have 2 great uses - holding up your phone and being used as a double socket for 2 sets of headphones. Every Friday we shall be sending one out directly to the most popular #ideaoftheweek - Only 52 have been produced. Andrew Rigby and Pablo Kotey are our first two winners. Thank you to BTC Group for your sponsorship in this years Idea of the Week and creating this great gadget. Do you want to win one? Do you want to win more? Start posting today.

Pablo Kotey?s Airline Idea

Everyone always hears stories of friends who have got to the front desk when they’re about to jet off on holiday to then be offered to be bumped up to business or first class. Although this is a fantastic surprise for the lucky few occasionally, Pablo Kotey had an idea - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2483 - ‘There should be free flights for the terminally ill. Business and first class hardly ever run at full occupancy, so why not?’ The likes and comments began to flow and Pablo stated that if he got to 20+ likes he would do something about it. 2 days passed and he easily achieved that. 7billionideas, on his behalf, have started to tweet some of the major airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, British Airlines and American Airlines to see if we can nudge a response out of them. Pablo has been re-tweeting, so let’s watch this space and hope that one of the major companies responds to Pablo and 7billionideas.

DADI Awards 2012

It only just became apparent to us that we did not post a success story around our DADI Awards success in November 2012. We were absolutely thrilled to be nominated by our partner Selesti and then to find out that we were a finalist at the prestigious digital Drum awards. We were up against some great websites including Amir Khan’s personal page, Auto Trader and First choice. Although we didn’t end up winning our category we received a commendation for the work that both 7billionideas and Selesti have put into the platform in 2012. It was an absolute honour to be nominated and you can read more about it at - http://www.selesti.com/news/7billionideas-a-finalist-at-the-dadi-awards-2012.htm

Odeon Tweets Back

Yes they did. The Odeon, the biggest Cinema chain in the UK and one of the largest in Europe responded back to 7billionideas user Jenny Pool when she tweeted them about one of her ideas. After an uncomfortable visit to one of her local cinemas Jenny posted an idea (Sofas In Cinema - Idea 1920) on 7billionideas that all cinemas should have sofas in them. A fun idea, it received double digit likes. New to twitter Jenny decided to act on her idea and give it a try and get in contact with the Odeon and they responded - '@pooljenny Thanks for the tweet - what a fun idea. I've passed it over to our relevant teams.' Brilliant news Jenny, we encourage you to keep the contact up and see if the Odeon will actually do it. We researched and found the picture of a cinema in the US which did this and it looks awesome. Thank you Odeon for responding to Jenny. What other cinema ideas have you got?

Supermarket Tweet

Another success story for the determined Jenny Pool! Determined to be heard, she decided to tweet all the major players in the supermarket world (Tescos, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda and M&S) her idea about supermarkets making smaller packaging for people who live alone. It proved to be a brilliant tactic with Tescos and Waitrose responding. Tesco said '@pooljenny we do offer a range of products to suit all our customers needs, but I will happily pass on any suggestions :-) and Waitrose said '@pooljenny I can certainly pass it onto the relevant dept. Thanks for your comments.' Unbelievable that these two major chains actually responded, thank you Waitrose and Tescos. Although not a hardcore commitment to actually do it, it is a start and we look forward to hearing back from Jenny as she follows up on these ideas.

Commenting Works

In September 2012 we introduced our comment feature. It was an absolute must have after seeing numerous user ideas posted about it, but also because the 7billionideas team felt that it would seriously help the collaborative aspect of our platform. Why – Because there were always going to be times when a user would post an idea that already existed. Is this a problem? No not at all. There are so many products, features, patents, services out there – How can we expect everyone to know what already exists and doesn’t exist. Our comment feature not only allows people to extend on ideas, praise ideas and provide constructive criticism, but also helps point people in the right direction of ideas that already exist. E.g Michelle Stevens ‘Smart Phone Gloves Idea’ - http://www.7billionideas.com/idea/2223 - After posting it on 7billionideas 2 unique users – Alex Butterworth and Glenn Cooney took the opportunity to guide Michelle in the right direction to inventions already created. We hope that Michelle will now never have cold hands again while trying to play with her phone outside Commenting is working and with over 1,200 comments so far, all we can do is encourage our users to keep it up. Thank you everyone for your contributions so far.

Stephanie Snaps Up

Stephanie Rosborough, an active 7billionideas user with 11 ideas posted todate, took her idea of starting a photography business and made it real. Stephanie has always had a talent for taking a great picture and decided in 2012 to really drive her idea into reality. After offering to be 7billionideas Official photographer at our recent iPhone launch, Stephanie has gained the courage to go a step further and launch her website - http://stephanierosboroughphotography.co.uk and her facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/SRosboroughPhotography . This gave her the confidence to then apply for a stall at the recent Imber Court Christmas Craft Fair, where she made her first sales of some of her fantastic photos. Stephanie has gone from strength to strength and we wish her all the best with her business as she looks forward to a snappy 2013.

Singapore Surprise

A second similar story about up rooting and leaving home to follow a hidden deep idea comes from Adrian Burrows this week. Adrian, born in Lincoln, always had the ambition of moving to London and then moving overseas to experience a different culture while he was young and in his twenties. However with local commitments increasing and the up rooting that is actually required, these dreams can often evaporate or indeed keep slipping for many young people. Adrian, inspired by the action behind 7billionideas, decided enough was enough and he was going to take the leap of faith and move abroad. After selecting Singapore, he accepted a job at the start of the year and hasn’t looked back since. Adrian said ‘I have had in my head the idea of moving abroad since I was 14, but making the move is so much harder than you can imagine. People should stick to their ideas and make them true. I have been here for 6 months and looking to extend for as long as possible. The best thing I have done’. We wish Adrian all the best seeing through his idea and the new members he will sign up from Singapore

New Bakery Business

Inspired by this years ‘Great British Bake Off’ and the success stories formulating on 7billionideas, Christopher Harkin, along with being Design Director for 7billionideas has now started a bakery business. His aim is to sell a selection of breads, cakes and surprises at one craft fair in 2013 and prove to himself (and friends and family) that he is the baker he thinks he is. After watching this years BBC programme, Chris started to purchase cooking books before spending a couple of hours each Saturday/Sunday testing out his new found skills. He began to surprise himself with how good his creations were and decided on making an early 2013 new year resolution – ‘I will sell a selection of my stuff at one craft fair in 2013’. Christopher has now purchased a name for his business and is working through his food license submission, so he can produce products from his home in Surbiton, Surrey. We can’t wait to see how this story develops and for the pictures from his first fair next year.

Judd Boys Inspired

Judd Grammar School in Kent, requested 7billionideas to make a visit to help inspire 132 of their talented Year 11s to Think Bigger and Dream Bigger about using their potential and turning it into something great. 7billionideas worked with the students for 2 lessons in a fun, interesting and interactive session covering topics from Career Management and Business Ventures to Motivation. 1/3 of the students signed up to 7billionideas that day and were particularly supportive on twitter about 7billionideas  @thesamfoulkes Great Presentation today, I learnt a lot #anythingispossible and @tomnorton007 Good assembly, #anythingispossible. Linda Harwood (Head of Careers & Higher Education) said It was quite some feat to keep that year group focused for such a long time and we were very impressed. I thought the session was really good and 7billionideas provided just about the right amount of content regarding your career management and setting up a business. It was very relevant to that age group and I think they all found things they could identify with. It was also really motivational. Thank you Linda and thank you to all the Judd students for your enthusiasm and receptive approach. We wish you all the best with some of your major decisions youll be making over the coming years and look forward to seeing you share your funny, thoughtful and creative ideas. Remember - #anythingispossible.

Shelia makes her move

Many people talk about one day working abroad, but few actually find the courage to do it and make their dream idea in a reality. Shelia Williams did just that earlier this year and 7billionideas is partially accredited to helping her make the decision. Shelia was an early user (and friend) of 7billionideas and was inspired by how 5 friends have transformed a pub idea into reality. In the back of her head, she always had the idea of working in Australia, however a) getting a job there is very hard and b) actually finding the courage to leave home and go to the other side of the world is another thing altogether. After reading through the success stories on 7billionideas and being an active user of the platform, Shelia decided the time had come to act on her idea. She applied for a job, was accepted immediately and then in July 2012 made the big leap down under. She’s based out in Sydney, enjoying life and taking on all the new experiences that a life down under has to offer. 7billionideas is proud that Sheila had the courage to act on her idea and made the big jump. Good luck Shelia and do not forget to sign up new users in Oz.

Tyre Pressure

7billionideas has had a constant flow of fun, thoughtful and creative ideas since Day 1. Every now and then though, an idea is posted that could really make a huge impact on peoples safety. James Day posted his ‘Tyre Pressure Gauge’ idea, raising the issue that more than 100,000 car crashes are caused yearly by unregulated type pressure. After a little encouragement from 7billionideas, James admitted that this was an idea he had had for 8 years and agreed it was time to act and investigate it. After many hours googling, he realised that this idea was already in action, although not commonly used - http://www.tyresonline.net/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=15 – He also found out that there is an option of having an app which picks up a signal from a cap on the tyre, which would be sent and managed from a smart phone. You would be able to input your car model and tyre make, which would then provide you with the right pressure information. You would then receive a notification if pressure drops and when an update is required. Fascinating stuff!!! Well done James for investigating your idea and sharing your findings on this extremely sensible idea. This app should come as a standard one on smart phones in the future to help reduce these 100,000 car crashes – Maybe you could now write to Apple and suggest that? #anythingispossible

Nectar Listened

Nectar is a loyalty card scheme in the United Kingdom, comprising partner companies including supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, American Express and BP. They have recently claimed to have more cardholders than the Tesco Clubcard programme. Chloe Steuer posted not 1, but 2 ideas for Nectar card improvements a) you should be able to link your credit/debit card so you can collect points automatically b) they should make the online experience of collecting points much easier. After ‘collecting’ J plenty of likes, Chloe decided to use Twitter to reach out to Nectar and act on her idea. With over 25,000 followers, a response could be seen by all of them and a response she got – ‘Hi Chloe, thanks for your ideas! I've forwarded these on for you :)’ – It will be 7billionideas job to chase Nectar down in the next few months to see if they take the ideas on, but it is brilliant for Chloe’s 7billionideas to be recognised by a company like Nectar. This also demonstrates the power of Twitter and how we should continue to approach these large companies in conjunction with our users everyday’s ideas #anythingispossible.

Speed Up Crossing

The Dartford Crossing is a major road crossing on the River Thames in England, connecting Dartford in the South to Thurrock in the North. One of the tunnels has been opened since 1963 and now has an average of 140,000 vehicles using it daily, 51 million a year. However, improvements seem to be few and far between. 7billionideas user Charles Hornsby estimated that it can often take up to an hour to go from South to North and posted an idea frustrated at the recent price hike of £2 per crossing but suggested that they considered something similar to the London congestion charge to prevent cars having to stop to pay their £2, but rather make it down to the driver to buy entry and then through Vehicle Number Recognition the crossing can see if the driver has paid or not. It would hugely help to reduce the delays. Charles has hunted down the right contacts and has recently sent a direct letter to them after receiving 100% likes on 7billionideas. We cant wait to see the response on this one. A really good idea. Keep us posted Charles.

TWGSB

340 Students at Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys recently took part in the 7billionideas Schools Innovation Program. The program is in place to encourage students to Think Bigger and Dream Bigger about the possibilities of their careers and their ideas. They engaged in a lesson with 7billionideas that focused on tips on how to maximise their careers and end up doing a job which satisfies them. The Sixth Formers of TWGSB listened to former student David Harkin and Founder of 7billionideas, about his career path since leaving the school and the big decisions he made. The students listened, laughed and made it an extremely engaging PHSE lesson. Mrs Geraldine Green (Head of PHSE) said ‘7billionideas did a wonderful job. The boys loved it and the teachers as well. The initiative is a role model for our students. The students related directly to 7billionideas, the key points were excellent and 7billionideas kept on re-iterating them, making everything very clear.’ Student Alex Atkinson, a young entrepreneur of the future, has started his own business ‘Gorilla Graphics’ a skateboarding company, tweeted 7billionideas. We wish him and the students of TWGSB all the best with their future careers. Remember #anythingispossible.

Social Media Start Up

At 7billionideas we love a success story that involves one of our users starting up a business. Tom Parsons has just done that. Alt3-SM is a new social media consultancy firm that aims to provide companies with advice about their presence on Facebook and Twitter. Tom, an ex-professional cricketer, joined a major Sporting social media company and transformed their brand presence on the two leading social media players from 3,000 followers/likes to 50,000+. Tom has come up with a way of posting interactive tweets, photos, questions and jokes which has resulted in a huge amount of re-tweets and sharing. Tom decided that it was time to act on his idea of setting up alone and has recently formed his company and gained his first set of clients. 7billionideas looks forward to seeing how this talented social media expert, develops in the coming years.

IKEA Website

After trying to buy a bed from IKEA, Samantha Willey posted an idea on 7billionideas that there should be a direct link to additional components, so users do not end up receiving a bed frame, but with no slats on it!!! Sam and Claire from our success stories team contacted IKEA and received a response from the IKEA UK customer services team – “When clicking on one item on the website, for example the HEMNES bed frame, there is usually a section on the page which lists ‘Complimentary Items’ allowing you to choose items such as under-bed storage, mattresses and mattress protectors at the same time, we hope this helps”. Although IKEA have not committed to directly seeing if they can improve the user ability of their website, we welcome their response. 7billionideas will push them to see if they can agree to reviewing their purchasing process and improving it, so Sams situation doesn’t happen again.

Football Radio

Sometimes Rugby seems light years ahead of Football (or Soccer for our American users). More often than not it is. Dan Cook thought to himself, ‘why can’t there be a radio for football referees in the English Premiership so we can hear how the players talk to the ref and visa-versa.’ He posted the idea on 7billionideas, received 13 likes and with Claire, our success stories advocate, decided to investigate why it was not already in place. Dan took the time out to find the organisation who supplied the referee radios in rugby - http://www.reflink.net/contact/ - and between them they contacted Jonathan Downey, Reflink Director who informed Dan and 7billionideas that ‘we would love to be doing this, but it is currently against FIFA regulations. There is often much lobbying to overturn this but at present it doesn’t look like it will change.’ So in the future, when you’re watching football with your friends and someone else may suggest the same thing, because Dan acted on his idea, you can explain that it is all down to FIFA being light years behind Rugby.

Parkinson Property's

Simon Parkinson is one of our most supportive users. After hearing about our story, Simon began to re-focus his thoughts and plans into a dream he had of one day owning his own property business - 'Parkinson's Properties' (name still to be confirmed!!). Combining part time supply teaching with property development, Simon hopes that in he can make a living by driving both of his aims. "When I heard about 7billionideas, I thought, I am going to stop talking and start acting on my own dreams. Starting a business is hard and in property you need to think about absolutely everything so you can maximise your returns. The 7billionideas Team are making their idea real, I am going to do the same." Simon we wish you all the best and we shall look forward to seeing all of your property and home ideas being posted as you go through your journey over the coming years.

Club Sponsorship

Chris Pool always thought it would be a good idea if his University Football team - Roath Park (Cardiff University), actually came up with a plan to go out and find some sponsorship. After spending a Sunday afternoon reading ideas on 7billionideas, he decided to act on his idea, rather than hoping that someone else would pick up the responsibility. His cunning plan was to apply the 'machine gun approach' and write to as many companies as possible. He approach over 60 companies in the Cardiff region requesting sponsorship for kit, along with much needed funding for league registration and recruitment. He gained 12 responses which lead to 6 meetings and then a day to remember when McCloskey Homes (Bridgend) called back and sponsored a huge £1,000 to the club. Chris also managed to get the club affliated to the History Society (raising £100 in process) and further sponsorhship of £400 from The Owain Glyndwr (http://www.theowainglyndwr.co.uk/) pub in Cardiff. This is a fantastic story of Chris finding the time, coming up with a strategy and securing a great result. It does prove, that despite the economic challenges out there, companies are still prepared to sponsor if you show some passion. Well done Chris.

WithoutaGlitch

Early 7billionideas users, Charlotte Howe and Jenny Pool were inspired by the story of 5 friends starting 7billionideas and decided to make their dream of starting a business come true. Charlotte and Jenny realised that they had a nack at putting together great events for friends and family. A combination of a natural flair for organisation and thoughtful planning seemed to be their magic formula. They decided therefore to start Without a Glitch (WAG) - www.withoutaglitch.co.uk - an event management company that bring a fun, stylish, creative and professional approach to event planning. They have launched a great website which displays their services and provides details about how to get in contact with them. 7billionideas used WAG for their website and iPhone application launch and they put together 2 fantastic events at the Topolski Art Gallery and Museum of Brands in London. They come highly recommended. Well done Charlotte and Jenny for taking the leap. We wish you all the best with your new business venture.

Lettuce Packaging

After receiving a positive response to her 'Lettuce!!!' Idea Susan Harkin wrote to Sainsbury's, the third largest supermarket in the UK to see if they would listen to her idea. Susan believed that lettuce should be pre-washed and come in smaller packs, as often there is waste and the lettuce goes brown. She wrote to Sainsbury's in an effort to do her bit to help reduce the 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink waste their is in the UK every year. Sainsbury's response was fantastic. "Thanks for your email. I’m sorry you’ve been unable to buy a reduced size pack of lettuce. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve our product.. Naturally, we want the products we sell to remain fresh for as long as possible. Climate change represents a huge global challenge, and tackling the issue means addressing factors that affect the environment both directly and indirectly. Wherever practical, we are taking steps at every level of our business to reduce our carbon and wider environmental footprint. Our 20 by 20 sustainability plan promises that by 2020 we’ll have cut our packaging by half compared to 2005. As stated, we do take the feedback we receive seriously. With this in mind, I’ve logged your request to have a reduced size pack of prewashed lettuce brought in to our stores. Although we can’t make any guarantees, we’ll do our best to make this happen in future." Thank you Sainsbury's and thank you Susan. Let's hope this can turn into a real life example of idea into reality and let's all keep an eye out for smaller packs in Sainsburys salad section!

Perins School

Perins School have just completed a very successful transformational learning project with 7billionideas. 200 Year 7 Students were introduced to the concept of 7Billionideas and worked in groups over 3 consecutive days to develop their ideas; produce a presentation and a post for the website. During the Transformational Learning project, students developed their life long skills useful for learning at Perins and a successful life beyond secondary school; for example Independent Enquirers, Creative Thinkers and Effective Participators. Miss Mel Kirk, School Transformational Lead, said "7billionideas were really enthusiastic and professional when they visited the school. They spoke enthusiastically to the students and were genuinely interested in listening to their ideas but to also motivate them to act on their ideas and believe in themselves. On 7billionideas second visit to the school, they delivered two motivational workshops to guide the students to reach for their dreams. Students listened intently to the workshops and gave some thoughtful answers to the workshop. We hope students creativity and ideas will go far beyond the time 7billionideas invested at Perins School and we send a special thank you to 7billionideas for engaging with our school and inspiring our students."

Bottle Sizes

Big thinker Susan Harkin, posted an idea about her frustration at the lack of size options for shampoo. There are often tiny ones for weekend travel or indeed the standard ones for everyday use. Susan's idea was that they should make 100ml bottles of shampoo, which don't seem to exist. This would mean you could take them on the plane and the amount would last you a whole holiday, rather than lugging a large shampoo bottle or running our when trying to use tiny little ones. After recieving 92% likes, she wrote to Molton Brown (one of the largest shampoo manufacturers in the world) who got back to her straight away and informed her that they do have a very small range of these sized bottles, but manufacturing is geared to producing it's existing range and that there are no plans to change this. A shame! Thank you Molton for getting back to Susan and well done for acting on your idea.

Healthy Eating

Laura Thomas posted her idea for realistic health advice around reducing sugar intake on 7billionideas where she had already had the idea floating around in her head for a while. Actually articulating it and writing it down on the 7billionideas site brought the idea more to life in her own head and when likes rather than dislikes started appearing, it gave her more confidence that it was something that could be useful to people. Laura took action and set up her blog www.happysugarhabits.com. She is establishing herself in the field and getting comments, likes and tweets on her own posts. Seeing its potential growth she has now taken a sabbatical from her job to put some full time effort in and is embarking on a new blogging/writing career. We wish Laura all the best and recommend our users to go visit her blog today #anythingispossible

Shopping Baskets

George Torry 'Shopping Basket' idea raced to the top of the 7billionideas rankinga along time ago and has stayed there ever since. It has just gone passed 50 likes which is an incredible statistic. George has decided to act on this idea and see if one of the major supermarkets would seriously consider putting a second round of baskets in their stores to help those shoppers who don't think they need one until they reach the other side. He has emailed Tescos, Sainsbury's and Waitrose. So far tescos have acknowledged his idea and the other major supermarkets have been fairly quiet. Watch this space for updates on George trying to get the big players to take his idea on board. Great effort so far George!

MOT Reminder

Susan Harkin posted an idea that the government should send out reminders to people that their MOT is about to expiry. She recieved 100% likes and decided to act on the idea. She contacted the 'Vehicle & Operator Service Agency' VOSA and got a very polite response back from them. They informed Susan that it would prove to be a very costly and said "Unlike tax disks (tax always expires at the end of the month), MOTs can expire at any time. As MOT's are logged against cars rather than individuals to send out reminders would also have required access for VOSA to the registration database held by DVLA. All this coupled with the increased workload and the need for extra staff would mean extra cost would have to be added to the MOT. Sending out letter reminders would still be very costly so this method of communication is unlikely to be implemented. VOSA has however launched a text message reminder service for MOT testing. To use the MOT text reminder service you will need to register your details with VOSA. Once registered, three text reminders will be sent to your mobile phone to remind you of your MOT date." Thank you VOSA for your explanation and well done to Susan for acting on your idea and sharing your story.

Ikea Stickers

The answer is everyone! David posted this idea on 7billionideas and gained 90% likes from the community. Rather than leaving it as just a posted idea, he has reached out to IKEA USA and IKEA UK to see if they can give him an answer to why they place stickers on everything. Consumers spend a huge amount of time rubbing them off, which adds unnecessary frustration to the whole DIY process. David is awaiting a response from IKEA and hopes he can encourage them to make their consumers lives a little easier and not have as many stickers all over their products. Support David's idea today - search 'Ikea'.

Toilet Roll Advertising

So after recieving plenty of likes and in an effort to be an example to other users, David has attempted to contact Andrex about his 'Toliet Roll Advertising Idea'. Andrex (owned by Kimberly Clark) are a UK firm based in Kent and produce 8.25 million miles worth of toliet paper each year. With no twitter account to tweet and no response by messaging them on facebook, David called Andrex directly to speak to someone in their customer services team. The feedback has been, 'we do not take suggestions from the public' which is abit of a huge statement and could be because David just might have hit the wrong person. He is currently in the process of sending a letter to Andrex directly and will report back with any official answer from them on his 'Toliet Roll Advertising Idea'. He has also reached out to - Thirst Pockets, SCA, Star Tissue, Accrol. SCA have informed David they have passed on his idea to the relevant people are we are awaiting a formal response. Watch this space and go read David's idea today!

Career Change

"As social media started to develop I started to take a very keen interest into this networking attribute, however I didn't really picture myself with a role in this particular field. After being offered a social media position at 7billionideas and voluntarily working with them after the website had launched, it made me realise perhaps this was the career path for me. I left my full time job and decided to start applying for social media internships. I have now been a social media intern for a fashion pr agency for just over a month and really enjoy it! In my spare time I still work alongside the team ensuring 7B social media is kept up to date. Without the experience and being offered a position with 7billionideas I don't think I would have ever taken the risk. 7billionideas inspired me to take the next step."

Platform Changes

All of your great comments on how to improve 7billionideas have inspired the team to work hard to keep developing the platform. We do listen...and the proof of that can be seen. Here are a few examples 1. Can you add the ability to comment - Luke Rogers, Craig Robertson, Oliver Mercer, Charlie Morris, Harry Simons, Rob Foster and Steve White. 2. Change 'My Account' to 'My Ideas' - Samantha Willey. 3. Change the Sports Category from Purple to Green - James Warner 4. See who likes your idea - Helen Tilley (you now can receive these in push notifications on the app) 5. Make the Ideas Counter Clearer - Simon Wallis. Please keep the suggestions coming through, watch out for the next release to see which have been included and developed.

7billionideas

It would seem fitting that our first success story is 7billionideas itself. Since the idea originated that day in a pub in London (see http://davidjharkin.com/2012/08/28/a-pub-idea-our-story/ for the full story), the team has inspired eachother to drive this idea forward. The journey is only just beginning and we hope we inspire our users to act on their ideas (shared or unshared) or be inspired by 7billionideas to do something special. Welcome aboard people and let's get the success stories rolling.